Jeff Tremaine knows how much a stunt depends on the friends watching it. We like his films for that shared enjoyment, though Jackass: Best and Last relies too heavily on old footage.
Fi1m perspective
Someone volunteers for something appalling, and his friends find it funny. Tremaine understands that watching those friends is part of the pleasure, and his films give their enjoyment room. The stunts need to work, but so does the company. We like him most when he trusts the performers’ pleasure in one another without trying to give their behaviour a grander explanation.
He co-created Jackass (2000) with Spike Jonze and Johnny Knoxville, then directed the first Jackass feature film in 2002. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013) took the format towards narrative, while Jackass Forever (2022) brought new performers alongside the originals. Those changes matter to a series that depends so much on familiarity. By Jackass: Best and Last (2026), the new stunts have to compete with an archive that records the cast growing older.
Cinematographer Dimitry Elyashkevich is a recurring collaborator, and Tremaine works with effects technicians to realise the more elaborate stunts. The apparent disorder takes some organising. He also shapes large quantities of raw footage into comic sequences, a skill that serves Jackass: Best and Last well until the old material starts to dominate. It is a funny film, but its new stunts are not strong enough to justify quite so much looking back.
The film puts new stunts alongside old footage and outtakes, making the cast’s ageing apparent without stopping for a speech about it. We were moved by the sight of the same friends still enjoying one another’s willingness to get hurt. Tremaine lets that affection emerge from their behaviour, and is right not to make them solemn about it. The earlier footage lets us see how long this shared enjoyment has lasted, which gives returning to it a purpose beyond revisiting the jokes.
The limitation is Tremaine’s occasional faith that recognition will do the work of a new joke. Some of the farewell feels content merely to have everyone back, and affection cannot quite fill those gaps. We still find the company worth an evening, provided the taste for this sort of physical comedy is already there. Anyone hoping to acquire it should probably not begin with the farewell.
Biography
Jeff Tremaine is an American director, producer and screenwriter. He co-created the MTV reality series Jackass with Spike Jonze and Johnny Knoxville, and has directed every main feature film in the franchise.
He previously edited the skate culture magazine Big Brother and worked as art director of GO magazine and as a professional BMX rider. Tremaine directed Jackass: The Movie (2002), Jackass Number Two (2006), Jackass 3D (2010), Jackass Forever (2022) and Jackass: Best and Last (2026); on the latter he also served as writer and producer and appeared as himself. He directed The Dirt (2019) and has executive produced several MTV series including Ridiculousness.
